Tina Turner: Top 50 Songs

Tina Turner Top 50 Songs

R&B/rock singer born Anna Mae Bullock on 11/26/39 in Nutbush, TN. Died 5/24/2023. Found success as half of a duo with Ike Turner, to whom she was married from 1962-78. After a few overlooked solo efforts in the ‘70s, Tina returned with the album Private Dancer in 1984 and launched one of rock’s greatest comeback stories. The 12-time Grammy winner has been called “The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and sold more than 200 million records worldwide. For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists. Check out the DMDB podcast episode Celebrating Tina Turner, 1939-2023 based on this list.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. DMDB Top 1%: 1. What’s Love Got to Do with It? (1984) 2. River Deep, Mountain High (with Ike, 1966) DMDB Top 5%: 3. Proud Mary (with Ike, 1971) 4. We Don’t Need Another Hero (1985) 5. The Best (1989) DMDB Top 10%: 6. Private Dancer (1984) 7. I Don’t Wanna Fight (1993) 8. Typical Male (1986) 9. It’s Only Love (with Bryan Adams, 1984) 10. Better Be Good to Me (1984) 11. Let’s Stay Together (1983) DMDB Top 20%: 12. Help! (1984) 13. Tonight (with David Bowie, 1984) 14. Come Together (with Ike, 1970) 15. Nutbush City Limits (with Ike, 1973) 16. One of the Living (1985) 17. Two People (1986) 18. What You Get Is What You See (1986) 19. Golden Eye (1995) 20. Tearing Us Apart (with Eric Clapton, 1986) 21. Steamy Windows (1989) 22. I Want to Take You Higher (with Ike, 1970) 23. It Takes Two (with Rod Stewart, 1990) 24. Ooh Poo Pah Doo (with Ike, 1964) 25. Fool in Love (with Ike, 1960) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 26. Show Some Respect (1984) 27. Why Must We Wait Until Tonight (1993) 28. Missing You (1996) 29. It’s Gonna Work Out Fine (with Ike, 1961) 30. Up in Heah (with Ike, 1972) 31. When the Heartache Is Over (1999) 32. Baby Get It On (with Ike, 1975) 33. Bold Soul Sister (with Ike, 1969) 34. Sexy Ida (with Ike, 1974) 35. Tra La La La La (with Ike, 1962) 36. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (1969) 37. Come Together (1976) 38. Addicted to Love (1988) 39. I Idolize You (with Ike, 1960) 40. I Can’t Stand the Rain (1984) 41. Workin’ Together (with Ike, 1970) 42. I’m Yours (Use Me Anyway You Wanna) (with Ike, 1971) 43. Poor Fool (with Ike, 1961) 44. The Hunter (with Ike, 1969) 45. You Should’a Treated Me Right (with Ike, 1962) 46. Open Arms (2004) 47. Break Every Rule (1986) 48. Look Me in the Heart (1989) 49. I Don’t Wanna Lose You (1989) 50. I Can’t Believe What You Say for Seeing What You Do (with Ike, 1964) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Tina Turner Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 5/27/2023; last updated 6/14/2023.

Jeff Barry - Happy 80th Birthday! His Top 30 Songs

Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, image from Cue Castanents! Blog

Jeff Barry Top 30 Songs

Pop singwriter Jeff Barry was born Joel Adleberg on 4/3/1938 in Brooklyn, NY. He often worked with his wife, Ellie Greenwich, as one of the famous Brill Building songwriting teams. Their song, “Be My Baby,” is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999. For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 30 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to singles charts.) DMDB Top 1%: 1. Be My Baby (The Ronettes, 1963) #1 CB 2. Sugar, Sugar (The Archies, 1969) #1 US, CB, HR, UK, CN 3. River Deep, Mountain High (Ike & Tina Turner, 1966) DMDB Top 5%: 4. I Honestly Love You (Olivia Newton-John, 1974) #1 US, CB, HR, RR, AC, CN, AU 5. Chapel of Love (The Dixie Cups, 1964) #1 US, CB, HR, RB, CN 6. Da Doo Ron Ron (The Crystals, 1963) 7. Do Wah Diddy Diddy (Manfred Mann, 1964) #1 US, CB, HR, UK, CN 8. Leader of the Pack (The Shangri-La’s, 1964) #1 US, CB, HR, RB 9. Hanky Panky (Tommy James & the Shondells, 1966) #1 US, CB, HR, CN 10. Then He Kissed Me (The Crystals, 1963) DMDB Top 10%: 11. Tell Laura I Love Her (Ricky Valance, 1960) #1 UK DMDB Top 20%: 12. Take Me Home Tonight (Eddie Money with Ronnie Spector, 1986) #1 AR 13. Baby I Love You (The Ronettes, 1963) 14. I Can Hear Music (The Beach Boys, 1969) 15. A Fine Fine Boy (Darlene Love, 1963) 16. Teenage Sonata (Sam Cooke, 1960) 17. Jingle Jangle (The Archies, 1969) 18. Montego Bay (Bobby Bloom, 1970) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 19. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (Darlene Love, 1963) 20. Little Boy (The Crystals, 1964) 21. Wait ‘Til My Bobby Gets Home (Darlene Love, 1963) 22. Not Too Young to Get Married (Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, 1963) 23. I Got to Go Back and Watch That Little Girl Dance (The McCoys, 1966) 24. Nasty Girl (Nitty, 2004) #1 AU 25. I Have a Boyfriend (The Chiffons, 1963) 26. Chip Chip (Gene McDaniels, 1962) 27. All Grown Up (The Crystals, 1964) 28. Good Night Baby (The Butterflys, 1964) 29. Bang-Shang-A-Lang (The Archies, 1968) 30. Who’s Your Baby? (The Archies, 1970) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Jeff Barry DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Ellie Greenwich Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 12/15/2019; last updated 6/5/2022.

50 years ago: Ike & Tina Turner charted with “River Deep, Mountain High”

River Deep, Mountain High Ike & Tina Turner

Writer(s): Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector (see lyrics here) First Charted: May 28, 1966 Peak: 88 US, 91 HR, 1 CL, 3 UK, 57 CN, 14 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 18.1 video, 85.36 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Producer Phil Spector has said this was his best work. WK He wrote the song with the famed writing writing time of Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, who also wrote “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” and “Leader of the Pack.” Spector was known for his “Wall of Sound” technique in which songs had layers upon layers of sound. The approach made for “very dense recordings that required a strong vocalist to cut through.” SF The song was written specifically for Tina Turner because he knew “her flamethrower voice could handle it.” SF Spector wanted total control over the production, which meant using his own session musicians. As a result, he paid Ike Turner $20,000 to stay away from the sessions, although his name still appeared on the record. SF Because Spector was such a perfectionist (and abusive), he made Tina sing the song repeatedly for several hours. WK The result? Record World called it “perhaps the greatest single of all time.” WK George Harrison declared it “a perfect record from start to finish. You couldn’t improve on it.” WK At the time of its release, however, the song didn’t exactly storm the charts. It only reached #88 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ike Turner said “because Tina Turner’s name was on it, the white stations classified it an R&B record and wouldn’t play it. The white stations say it was too black, and the black stations say it was too white, so that record didn’t have a home.” WK Spector was reportedly so disillusioned with the song’s poor performance that he retreated from the recording industry for two years, largely becoming a self-destructive recluse and only returning to the studio intermittently after that. WK The song did reach the top 20 on the U.S. pop charts and top 10 on the R&B charts in 1970, but it was a version recorded by the Supremes with the Four Tops. The Animals, Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, Deep Purple, and Darlene Love have also recorded the song. A version was recorded for the television show Glee reached #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Ike Turner SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/7/2021; last updated 7/11/2023.

R.I.P. Ellie Greenwich/ Her Top 30 Songs

First posted 12/15/2019.

Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry, image from Cue Castanents! Blog

Ellie Greenwich was a pop songwriter and record producer born 10/23/1940 in Brookly, NY. Died 8/26/2009. She and husband Jeff Barry were one of the famous Brill Building songwriting teams. Discovered Neil Diamond. Click here for a detailed list of songs which Greenwich wrote or co-wrote, produced, or recorded. Greenwich and Barry wrote “Be My Baby,” which is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999. For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

---

Top 30 Songs

---

Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on the following charts have been noted: Billboard Hot 100 pop charts (US), Cashbox (CB), Hit Records (HR), Radio & Records (RR), Billboard R&B chart (RB), Billboard country chart (CW), Billboard album rock chart (AR), United Kingdom pop chart (UK), Canadian pop chart (CN), and Australian pop chart (AU).

DMDB Top 1%:

1. Be My Baby (The Ronettes, 1963) #1 CB
2. River Deep, Mountain High (Ike & Tina Turner, 1966)

DMDB Top 5%:

3. Chapel of Love (The Dixie Cups, 1964) #1 US, CB, HR, RB, CN
4. Da Doo Ron Ron (The Crystals, 1963)
5. Do Wah Diddy Diddy (Manfred Mann, 1964) #1 US, CB, HR, UK, CN
6. Leader of the Pack (The Shangri-La’s, 1964) #1 US, CB, HR, RB
7. Hanky Panky (Tommy James & the Shondells, 1966) #1 US, CB, HR, CN
8. Then He Kissed Me (The Crystals, 1963)

DMDB Top 20%:

9. Take Me Home Tonight (Eddie Money with Ronnie Spector, 1986) #1 AR
10. Baby I Love You (The Ronettes, 1963)
11. I Can Hear Music (The Beach Boys, 1969)
12. A Fine Fine Boy (Darlene Love, 1963)
13. Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry (Darlene Love, 1963)
14. Why Do Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts (Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, 1963)

Beyond the DMDB Top 20%:

15. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (Darlene Love, 1963)
16. Little Boy (The Crystals, 1964)
17. Wait ‘Til My Bobby Gets Home (Darlene Love, 1963)
18. Not Too Young to Get Married (Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, 1963)
19. I Have a Boyfriend (The Chiffons, 1963)
20. All Grown Up (The Crystals, 1964)

21. Good Night Baby (The Butterflys, 1964)
22. Out in the Streets (The Shangri-La’s, 1965)
23. One Boy Too Late (Mike Clifford, 1963)
24. Maybe I Know (Lesley Gore, 1964)
25. What a Guy (The Raindrops, 1963)
26. I Wanna Love Him (The Jelly Beans, 1964)
27. I’ll Take You Where the Music’s Playing (The Drifters, 1965)
28. Little Bell (The Dixie Cups, 1964)
29. The Kind of Boy You Can’t Forget (The Raindrops, 1963)
30. He’s Got the Power (The Exciters, 1963)

---

Awards:

---